On of my unlucky woodcutters got mauled to death by a giant badger. He even had an iron axe and actually knew how to use it, but reading the combat report I saw that it jumped on him, charging, and got him by surprise. The poor guy didn't even have a chance to defend himself, and managed to retaliate, and miss, only once, a few seconds before his death. That was the last message, beside him bleeding to death.
I'm also building a cistern as I have only saltwater. My masons got assaulted by the badgers, but noone has been killed, miraculously.
My rather decent militia (only a few waves of migrants, some were quite good soldiers). Proceed to chase them away. They kill them, and only one dwarf gets her head cut and later torn open, but she survived without any internal injuries.
Another wave of badgers appears and manages to injure many of my soldiers. They all have only one or two cuts that aren't that horrible, but they all get bedridden and must drink only water, that is salty. One of them luckily healed on his own, but his body is still dented. He is incredibly quick to heal, though.
I don't know if I can finish the cistern in time, and I'd hate losing them to such minor cuts, especially while having about three great doctors and lots of cloth and thread (drowned the elven traders
)
The water in the cavern's pools are also salty.
Do I have any options besides finishing the cistern?